As It Turns Out, Ja Morant Is Absolutely Not Fine In The West

Justin Ford. Getty Images.

Things aren't so great at the moment for the Memphis Grizzlies. After being one of the better teams all season long, they currently find themselves on the wrong side of a 3-1 series deficit. Can they be a team that pulls off something only 13 teams in the history of the NBA have ever done and come back and win? Technically yes, but it seems unlikely if you've watched these four games. They don't exactly give off a vibe of a team that can win 3 in a row against LeBron & Co.

As a result, a guy like Dillon Brooks is getting a whoooooole bunch of heat for all the shit he talks and then refusing to back it up either through his play, or speaking to the media. You dodge the media once, OK, fine. That's pathetic, but hey it happens. You skip the media again after another loss where you once again played like shit? Yikes.

The thing is, you have to remember something when it comes to the Grizzlies. Dillon Brooks isn't the only playe on that roster who talks shit. They all do. Repeatedly. How could we forget the Klay Thompson rant after the Warriors won the title?

The beauty of talking shit is that if things work out and you back it up, it's the greatest. But there's risk involved when you do it. You put pressure on yourself and your team to actually show why you feel talking shit is warranted. As I said, this isn't just a Dillon Brooks thing, it starts at the top

That clip is from December 21st. At that time, the Grizzlies were the 2 seed sitting at 19-11. The Grizzlies had just gone through a nice 9-2 stretch and had recently kicked the shit out of the Bucks 142-101. As you can expect, I'm sure they were feeling themselves. Ignore the fact that after this came out the Grizzlies then lost to the Warriors and Suns, but the Grizzlies did finish the year 30-22 against the West which wasn't terrible.

Fast forward 4 months and sadly, Ja Morant is not fine in the West. Farrrrr from it. I get it, he has a fucked up hand, but who isn't banged up this time of year? With their season basically on the line, Ja showed up and threw up an 8-24 (1-6) performance with 4 TOs in his 44 minutes. It was the 2nd time in 3 games that Morant has played in this series that he finished with under 20 points. 

That's being fine in the West? Because buddy, right now the West is kicking your ass. 

I know Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke are hurt, and I do understand how valuable they were to the Grizzlies' success, but everyone has injuries this time of year. I don't think that lets Brooks or Ja or any Grizzlie off the hook for talking the way they did all year long. You cannot do shit like that and then follow it up by losing to a 7 seed in what will most likely be a gentlemen's sweep. 

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It came time to pay the bill and the Grizzlies have folded in essentially every way possible. Nothing describes the Grizzlies more to me than this clip by MJ from The Last Dance

One would have thought that maybe after losing to the Warriors that it would help the Grizzlies become more humble, but that clearly wasn't the case. If they lose this series in 5 games, how can anyone take any of their shit talking seriously again? Once you keep running your mouth and continue to never being able to back it up, it just becomes noise with no substance attached to it. 

That's the Grizzlies at the moment. All bark, no bite.